FAIRBURY - Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville passed Wes Steidinger of Fairbury with about 10 laps to go and held on to win the late model feature Tuesday at Fairbury American Legion Speedway's NASCAR Night. | Photo Gallery

The race included NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace, who finished 10th, and Kenny Schrader, who was 19th. Schrader went out of the race early after sliding into the infield while driving side-by-side with Wallace.

Ryan Dauber of Tonica took third, followed by Randy Korte of Highland and Kevin Weaver of Gibson City.

Steidinger, Schrader, Scott Bull of Fairbury and Eric Smith of Bloomington won the heat races, while Jason Feger of Bloomington and Rusty Griffaw of Festus, Mo., finished first in the semifeatures.

Wallace and Schrader were busy talking to the many fans and friends who stopped by their pit area prior to the night's racing.

"One thing I enjoy about my dirt career … is places like Fairbury tonight, Peoria tomorrow (Wednesday)," said Wallace, who has been driving on dirt for three years. "It is a lot of fun because I get to meet a lot of the locals. They always tell me who the hot shoe is and who to look out for. It's a whole new experience for me."

Schrader and his crew maintain Wallace's late model car and haul it for him as well when they are both racing at the same track.

"This is his fourth race in it I think, and he's run good so far. We're just kind of getting him started, and then he's going to have to do it on his own," Schrader said with a grin. "I love it. It's just a riot."

This was the first time either Wallace or Schrader raced at Fairbury. Schrader, a veteran of dirt-track racing, had planned to run in a midget race in the 1980s, but that event was rained out.

"I came and watched some of the Summer Nationals while we were racing at the track up in Joliet. I rode my motorcycle down," Schrader said. "Somehow, as many races as we run and as many different tracks as we've run in the Midwest … we've never run here or Peoria, so I'm looking forward to it."

Schrader isn't lacking for time behind the wheel despite running a limited Nextel Cup schedule this season, However, he finds the time to race in places such as Fairbury because he enjoys it.

"I'm not running Charlotte this week. I'm going to run the truck race up in Mansfield, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday and then go run my dirt car again on Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday night. So, we've got plenty of time to get stuff squeezed in," Schrader said.

Just three days prior to racing at Fairbury, Wallace came in 17th at the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge after starting 21st. He won a vote by NASCAR fans to get into the event - which also featured winners from the previous and current Nextel Cup seasons and the winner of the Nextel All-Star Challenge Open.

"I was completely humbled - almost to the point of embarrassment. The fans are just awesome," Wallace said of the support he received. "I feel like I'm a really good, competitive driver, but I'm not Tony Stewart. I had like a Grateful Dead following. They voted me in, and I'm so thankful for it.

"My wife was the one that started the campaign, and it just grew its own legs. I have no illusions, like I was supposed to be in it, but they held this voting campaign and I won it. I was just thrilled to death to be in the race."

Porth gets the win

Defending track champion David Porth of Gardner took home the top prize in Tuesday's modified feature, followed by Denny Schwartz of Ashmore, Gary Cook Jr. of Deer Creek, Lance Dehm of Chatsworth and Matt Bachman of Gibson City.

Schwartz, Bachman, Tommy Kroll of Chabanse and Chad Osterhott of Kankakee were heat winners. Joel Funk of Dwight and Matt Barker of Cooksville won the semifeatures.

Wallace ran a St. Louis Cardinals car in the modified race, but finished well off the pace. Despite the rivalry between Cubs and Cardinals fans in the area, he said he wasn't worried about getting run off the track.

"I always tell all my Chicago friends, and I have a lot of Chicago friends: 'When is somebody going to come out with a Cub car.' It seems like I'm the only one to put together all the paperwork. I found out real quick it's not real easy to put the Cardinal name on your car - about an inch thick of paperwork by Major League Baseball.

"I could've very simply made that car a complete yellow and black Jegs car this year, but my wife said she'd kill me if I took her Cardinals off."